Contents

Mission

When the two arrive, Big Smoke explains that the Vagos and San Fierro Rifa are "cutting some kind of deal", and intends to crash the meeting. However, it is an ambush and the Vagos try to escape via train. CJ and Smoke use a Sanchez to chase down the head of the train to kill all four Vagos, all the while avoiding obstacles such as oncoming car blocks and incoming trains. If successful, CJ and Smoke will have eliminated all Vagos before the train reaches the bridge connecting Los Santos and Las Venturas. The two then clear the scene and CJ takes Big Smoke back to his house.

Mission objectives

In order to complete the mission the player must:

Drive to Unity Station

Get on the motorbike with Big Smoke, chase down the Vagos gang members and take them out

Keep up with the front carriage of the train so Big Smoke can shoot the Vagos gang members

Take Big Smoke back to his house

Tips

Jump on the Sanchez provided for you by pressing the "enter vehicle" button immediately after the cutscene ends.

Do not waste bullets trying to shoot the gang members as the train is too high.

Stay on the far right side. Staying too close to the train will give Smoke a bad angle and he will shoot the train instead.

While still near Unity Station and before the train makes a curved left turn, one Vago (the one who is behind the rest) will be killed when he fails to duck under a metal bar. Since it is pointless to aim for him, Carl can drive faster to focus on other gang members.

Just above the storm drain that the train passes, there is a ramp that is level with the train, and can be used to drive the bike on top of it. Not only does this give Smoke an easy shot at the Vagos, the player can also shoot at the gang members, assuming that they have a drive-by weapon.

Trivia

According to speculation, this mission is noted as one of the hardest in Grand Theft Auto.

If the player fails the mission, Big Smoke will say "All we had to do was follow the damn train, CJ!". The line has become quite famous among fans of Grand Theft Auto.

In the beta version, another objective would have been to retrieve a package from the dead Vagos, making CJ suspect something. This was cut before release, possibly because Rockstar Games didn't want to make it too obvious that Smoke is going to betray the Grove Street Families.

This is one of the first missions to take Carl out of Los Santos and into Red County; for players playing strictly storyline missions this will be their first exposure to the rural area, too.

Oddly, in the mission Local Liquor Store Carl complains about Catalina shooting so close to his ear, but he doesn't do it with Big Smoke, presumably as he is closer to Big Smoke and the fact that Smoke generally aims the gun higher and to the side, limiting the noise, wheras Catalina is shooting directly forward.

There is a Minecraft splash screen writing "Follow the train, CJ!" which is a reference to this mission.

If the player takes Big Smoke back to his house in a different vehicle, it will be replaced with the Sanchez in the cutscene.

If the player fails the mission just as the Vagos crosses the bridge and looks closely, the player will see that the train will pass through a barrier.